June 11, 2010

The White Sox were known to be targeting college pitchers, and they picked four of them to start their draft. BA’s top-rated lefthander, slender strike-thrower LHP Chris Sale (1), fell to them at No. 13 overall. He had a 10-1 strikeout-walk ratio and could move quickly with his plus fastball and changeup and improved slider. He could be an absolute steal with a double-digit pick. RHPs Jacob Petricka (2), Addison Reed (3) and Thomas Royse (3s) give them three solid righthanded options, with Reed a potential fast riser if he moves back to a relief role. The position-player crop offers less upside, with hard-hitting junior-college 2B Joe Terry (8) and toolsy SS Tyler Saladino (7) the most intriguing prospects.

The Scoop: Dan Hudson is playing a waiting game at this point. He struggled in April as he got over the disappointment of not making the big league roster, but since then, he’s 6-0, 2.02 in his last eight starts. He’s been even better this month, as he’s allowed one run in 12 innings. But even though the White Sox’s starting rotation has been a serious disappointment (John Danks is the only starter with an ERA under 4.80), there’s no obvious candidate to be released, so Hudson will likely have to wait until an injury or the White Sox go into fire-sale mode to make it back to the big leagues.

“There are a lot of things that happened this year and we’re not going to deny it, since spring training, a lot of disagreements between each other, but that doesn’t mean we have personal problems. Personal problems, everyone has personal problems, but in the meanwhile, we respect each other the way we should. We still talk about the ballclub. One thing about it is the relationship between manager and GM in baseball, we played together, we grew up together, and that’s the difference between another GM and manager and us. It’s like a divorce, it’s like a you’re married – you argue with your wife, with your kids and then all of a sudden you turn the thing, blow it away and move on. Right now, there are a lot of things that have happened out there, I don’t want to say miscommunication, a lot of disagreements, and they get to the point like we hate each other, well, I don’t remember hating anyone. Is the relationship the same way it was? Not really, because a few things have happened in disagreements, but that’s part of life.”

UPDATE: The guy that told the Sun-Times about the Ozzie-Kenny feud was Ozzie’s nephew, Freddy Garcia:

”They used to be good friends,” pitcher Freddy Garcia said. ”I don’t know what’s happened. It doesn’t bother me because we play. They don’t play. We have to come to the field and do what we’re supposed to do. Now they have this fight, this yelling, whatever it was the other day, but if we play bad, that’s our fault.”

1) Chris Sale, LHP, Florida Gulf Coast University: No one expected Sale to fall this far, 13th overall. He’s a steal in this slot. Although his delivery is unconventional, he repeats it well and I’m not convinced that his injury risk is any higher than any other pitcher.

2) Jacob Petricka, RHP, Indiana State University: Raw before this year, Petricka improved his mechanics this year and got his fastball up to 98 MPH at times. He still needs refinement, but has a lot of potential as a relief arm.

3) Addison Reed, RHP,San Diego State: Very polished, Reed throws 89-92 as a starter but hit the mid-90s when used as a closer in ’09. He has a good slider and changeup. If used in rotation, he looks like a number three or four starter, but if he moves to the pen he could move very fast as a closer through the system.

3S) Thomas Royse, RHP, University of Louisville: Another polished arm, with a 90 MPH fastball and a workable slider and changeup.

But Hollis does have what Simonds called a “plus-plus fastball” that runs in the 92-93 mph range. “In the minor leagues, the focus is a little more on development,” Simonds said. “In college, we have a limited number of games. “He’s got some good run on his fastball,” he said of Hollis. “If he picks up a couple miles on his fastball and picks up a second pitch, gets more consistency with his change-up or curve, who knows what will happen?” Hollis said he agrees that his “arm strength” is what attracted the scouts, “that and a little bit of athleticism.”

Hollis said he has talked with a White Sox scout and is waiting for the contract papers in the mail. “I’m definitely signing, for sure,” he said. “Right now I’m just sitting back and being patient.”